Very generally, electrical connectors are devices provided for interconnecting electrical circuits. A typical electrical connector includes a dielectric housing, such as of plastic material or the like, in which are mounted a plurality of terminals terminated to the electrical circuits. The circuits may range from discrete electrical wires to circuit traces on a printed circuit board.
Often, electrical connectors are provided with some form of shielding to protect or shield the electrical terminals or electrical interface from interference, such as electromagnetic or radio interference, whether the interference comes from outside the connector or the interference radiates from within the connector. Such shielding typically is fabricated of stamped and formed, or drawn sheet metal material.
Still further, electrical connectors often have some form of latching or retention system for securing the connector to a complementary mating connector, to a panel, or to a wide variety of other connection devices. Retention systems vary widely and can range from integral latches on the connector to separate threaded or screw members to secure the connector to the mating connector, panel or the like. For instance, one or more "jack screws" are used to directly interconnect a pair of mating connectors. If one of the mating connectors is mounted to a panel, jack screw nuts may be used to mount the connector to the panel, with a mating connector having jack screws for threading into the jack screw nuts. Typically, the jack screw nuts are threaded into internally threaded holes in the sheet metal shield of the connector or into a metal insert within the housing.
A problem with using threaded members or screws, such as the aforementioned jack screws or jack screw nuts, is that the internally threaded holes in the sheet metal shield may have a tendency to become stripped during an assembly operation. For instance, an operator may set a power tool, such as a screw or nut driver, at a particular torque which may vary slightly during repetitive cycles, but the variance is sufficient to cause stripping of the internally threaded holes in the shield. Increased resistance could be achieved simply by increasing the thickness of the sheet metal shield, but this would unnecessarily increase the cost of the connector. The present invention is directed to solving these problems with an improved retention system for threaded members in an electrical connector which includes a sheet metal shield.